Elvis90

Sounds like the pilots deserve a raise:

United Continental's Net Slumps 23% on Integration Costs, Fuel Expense - WSJ.com

By MIA LAMAR

United Continental Holdings Inc.'s third-quarter profit slumped 23% as surging fuel expenses and more than $100 million in integration costs weighed on the airline's results.

Thursday's earnings report marks the fourth quarter the company has posted combined results from both UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and Continental Airlines, which merged last year. The tie-up vaulted United Continental Airlines over Delta Air Lines Inc. to become the world's largest airline.

Rising traffic and higher fares and fees offered broad support for airlines in the third quarter, already a strong period seasonally. Fare increases have helped United Continental consistently report industry-leading unit revenue growth and ease the strain of rising fuel costs hindering many carriers.

United Continental reported a profit of $653 million, or $1.69 a share, compared with $852 million, or $2.16 a share, a year earlier. Excluding $120 million consisting primarily of integration-related costs, earnings were $2 a share for the period.

Operating revenue improved 8.7% to $10.17 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of $2.08 on $10.14 billion in revenue.

Aircraft fuel expense jumped 33%, while total operating expenses rose 12%.

Consolidated traffic slipped 1.5% while capacity edged down 0.8%. Load factor, of the percentage of available seats filled, declined to 85.3% from 85.9%. Passenger revenue per available seat mile, a performance gauge for the industry, climbed 10.1%.

Also reporting earnings Thursday, US Airways Group Inc. said its third-quarter profit slid 68%.

US Airways, which operates a mostly domestic network, said its consolidated fuel price jumped 44% from a year earlier, leading to a $356 million increase in fuel expense. Soaring fuel costs have been a persistent headwind across the airline industry.

Still, the airline indicated demand was solid in the period, a trend it expects to continue into the current quarter. US Airways has been among the most optimistic in the airline industry about the upturn in travel demand.

US Airways reported a profit of $76 million, or 41 cents a share, down from $240 million, or $1.22 a share, a year earlier. Excluding legal costs and other items, earnings fell to 51 cents from $1.23.

Operating revenue improved 8.1% to $3.44 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 48 cents a share on $3.43 billion in revenue.

Companywide, passenger revenue per available seat mile, a key performance metric for airlines, climbed 10.2%.

Load factor, or the percentage of available seats filled, rose to 85% from 83.1%. Traffic rose 1% as capacity declined 1.2%.

APC225

"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it" -- Clint Eastwood

You get what you negotiate.

And CAL pilots are long out of practice. They negotiated themselves into no profit sharing starting--wait for it--this year, their most profitable year in history.

After 10 straight profitable quarters they "left $500M on the table" in C97, followed shortly after by CAL's most profitable quarter in history, followed by 10 more profitable quarters.

They signed C02 with a blank scheduling section, sunset on profit sharing, and no snapbacks. 58% genius.